Monday, April 02, 2007

I live about 25 minutes outside of Richmond and travel up there a good bit to shop and work. When I read today that Richmond native Clay Jackson had been picked to be Maytag's company spokesperson (translation - the new MayTag Repairman) - I thought YEAH! Local man makes good. Cool.

I poked around the website MayTag used to launch and chronicle the search and hiring of their new repairman and was struck by its overall marketing and link potential. It was that employment blog that led me to think about jobs and job training which led to thinking about schools which of course made me think about edu links.

Whether you're a virtual or bricks & mortar company, offering information on your website about the job training programs you offer can attract people and links. Include detailed information on the training classes you're offering, job training requirements and any Federal and State regulations there might be to cover all the bases on your particular industry. Training is a hot topic and often cited as a resource when journalists are covering stories on the employment outlook in your niche. Make your site the resource they turn to when they're looking for factual and trend information.

Job training programs and their outlines are also eagerly sought after by high schools, community colleges, vocational schools, universities and teachers in general.

You'll need to be pro-active in contacting these opportunities as they typically don't have the time or resources to seek you out. Follow an online introduction with an offline brochure for added credibility and include references to any local students currently employed by your firm.

Once you think about how you can use your job training programs to secure quality links, it's easy to expand and develop programs for job fairs and your basic job opportunities as well. Job fair information is always welcome at places like your state and local employment commissions, Veteran Affairs offices, Chamber of Commerce and industry associations. While you may not always net a clean link from these government entities (although sometimes you will!), you'll definitely get a lot of eyeballs.